At noon today, an insightful tour around the Creative Energy Homes Project in the SBE began with a talk by Ian Gray, technical manager for Tarmac Homes. Along with Lovells, the build partner, Tarmac Homes are responsible for the construction of a pair of semi-detached homes, built to Code 4 and Code 6 (more information here) within the school's Green Close area.
Gray explained that the purpose of these semi-detached homes went further than to just act as a one-off demonstration project, showcasing the technology available. Instead they are being built to show that homes built to these environmental standards can be affordable, practical, and repeatable. When challenged on the point of affordability, he replied that whilst the cost for the technology used in one home is currently around £30,000, by demonstrating their repeatability, the level of affordability would rise.
Whilst the two semi-detached dwellings are built to different Code levels, the floor plans will be the same, mirrored, but there will be some external aesthetic differences. Due to the fact that the Code 6 house will employ a solid wall with external insulation (providing a U-Value of 0.15), it will be closer to the nearby BASF house in appearance. The Code 6 house also has a south-facing sunspace, for the benefit of solar gain. The Code 4 house will look more traditional externally, with brick walls. Both houses will have asymmetrical pitched roofs, to maximise the south-facing potential, and the angle of their pitch will also help the effectiveness of PV panels. A wood pellet boiler on the northern side will service both houses as a back-up heat supply.
Our group was then lucky enough to get a look inside the Code 4 BASF house (pictured). 30 or so pairs of abandoned shoes in the hallway later, we squeezed into the living room and were given a rundown on the house's technology by Lucelia Rodrigues. Interesting nuggets included the possibility of 'controlling' your house remotely via a mobile phone. As Ben later pointed out, if you're at work and have an argument with your partner at home, you could switch all the lights out on them...
We then took it in turns to take a look upstairs, where the stack effect ventilation method meant the first floor landing proved to be a high-ceilinged airy and light space and imaginative use was made of the sunspace - the bedrooms facing south had internal balconies large enough to sit on, which bridged the space between the room and the external glazed leaf, with openable windows.
Back downstairs, there was time for a quick peek into the biomass boiler room - pellets condensed from rapeseed crop detritus are used as a back-up heating method. In the 'buffer zone' entrance porch, one wall displays the house's 'brain' ... a complex-looking computer which controls the various technologies. This house, and the two semi-detached Tarmac Homes currently under construction display more monitoring equipment, at least more overtly, than any future dwelling built to similar standards would, but this is simply because these houses are being closely monitored as research projects.
The aim is for the Tarmac Homes semi-detached houses to dispel the myth that the only way to reach the higher Code levels is to use timber construction, by employing masonry construction in both examples. Work levelling the site began on January 5th, and the project is expected to be completed within a 35 week timescale. We will soon be able to closely follow the progress via a webcam connection.
No comments:
Post a Comment